Oxy Students in the NY Times!

This Sunday, November 7, 2010, the New York Times published an article where two current Oxy students, Ben Klute and Josh Erdman were featured! Congratulations Ben and Josh! The NY Times piece was written by Alex Hagwood and was titled, For Gays, New Songs of Survival. The article discussed how chart-topping pop stars have began to sing about the struggles that many young homosexuals face in their daily lives. Unfortunately, the author suggested that it was these same pop stars who began their careers singing songs which many in the gay community objected to. Thus, one music critic explained that maybe these new songs are a way for "[the] artists [to] [tell] us [that] their growing up-an emblematic of an entire generation growing with them." Ben and Josh are featured in the article because they have become quite well known throughout YouTube as the KoverBoyz, who post acoustic versions of Top 40 cover songs. After some of their videos got over 100,000 hits, Ben and Josh "began to add a small stamp to the videos that [read], Legalize Gay." Ben is quoted as saying, "We weren't sure if we were going to express our orientation with these videos, but we wanted people like us to know we're out there." Josh also expressed that, "What these artists are doing means the world to the gay community." This is indeed an accomplishment for both sophomores because it helps spread their message to a far greater audience than they might have ever imagined.

If you would like to read the complete article, please check out the following link, For Gays, New Songs of Survival.